HYT

If you’re interested in watches from HYT, we have plenty, including the HYT H1.

The HYT H1 is shown in titanium; 48mm diameter case, water resistant to 100 meters with a 65-hour power reserve.

The most fascinating part of the watch, of course, is that fluid indication of time. Here’s how it works: the time is shown by the meniscus–a fancy word for the surface-tension shaped end–of a luminous green fluid flowing through a transparent tube set around the periphery of the dial. The trick is that there are actually two fluids: one is the visible green fluid that shows the hour, and the other is a transparent fluid that takes up the remaining space in the tube.

Two bellows connected to opposite ends of the tube act as reservoirs for the fluid; as the one containing the transparent fluid expands, the one containing the fluorescent fluid contracts, advancing the fluorescent fluid as time passes. The entire system is thus closed and hydro-dynamically stable. The two fluids contain molecules with opposite electrical charges to prevent them from mixing with each other.

There’s a conventional minute indicator on the dial, as well as a power reserve indicator and a turbine-like disk showing the running seconds. Turn the watch over, and the beautifully designed movement is revealed. It’s been given a surprisingly traditional finish, which combined with the bellows system and unusual movement architecture gives the watch a kind of steampunk appeal that I honestly found instantly irresistible.

Seeing is believing. Next year’s introduction from HYT should be just as mindblowing–Perriard says it’s a collaboration with renowned complications specialists Audemars Piguet Renaud & Papi, and with the synergy possible between Perriard’s partners and the famously creative minds at APRP, the sky’s the limit. Vincent: mea culpa, you showed me the light.